Hungry judges in Israel

Some time ago, a study was performed in Israel, reviewing the decision of eight parole judges who spent entire days reviewing applications for parole and reduced sentences. The study looked at the results from 1150 cases reviewed in random order and with an average of six minute attention in court. The outcome showed results that should be interesting for all those who are interested in decision making. The default outcome of each review was denial of parole or denial of the request to reduce the sentence. Only 35% of requests for parole or reduced sentence were approved. But the researchers found that the timing of different decisions was of great importance. In the immediate time after meals/breaks 65% of parole requests or requests for reduced sentence were granted! In the immediate time before the next meal/break, when the judges blood sugar started plummeting, the parole and reduction approvals dropped to 0%. In lay words; full judges were next to gullible while hungry judges didn’t let you off easy.